Bollywood

For lists of the best, consult the various web sites devoted to Bollywood, where critics list their choices or readers vote for their favorites. Key Performance Indicator press release for the quarter to 30 June 2005, 25 July 2005. Popularity is less open to debate. ¹ Vodafone Group Plc. These are not necessarily the best films produced by Bollywood; even attempting to make a list of the 'best' would be controversial. Vodafone's accounts for the years shown in the table below include a great number of one off transactions, and apart from noting the rapid expansion of the group, no conclusions about underlying trends should be drawn from the figures without examining the accounts in more detail. Foreigners interested in sampling Indian cinema may wish to consult this List of popular Bollywood films. Despite the reported losses it is in reality a highly profitable company, and this is reflected in the fact that it is consistently one of the top twenty companies in the world by market capitalisation.

However, filmmakers may be moving towards accepting some box-office segmentation, between films that appeal to rural Indians, and films that appeal to urban and overseas audiences. However this write off of goodwill is purely an accounting adjustment and does not affect Vodafone's cash position or its ability to pay dividends. It was believed that aiming for a broad spectrum would maximize box office receipts. As UK GAAP requires goodwill to be written off against the profit and loss account Vodafone has shown large statutory losses since then. The Indian film industry has preferred films that appeal to all segments of the audience (see below), and has resisted making films that target narrow audiences. By the end of its key acquisition drive, which ran from 1999 to 2002, Vodafone had more than £100 billion of goodwill on its balance sheet. In the early 1990s, the pendulum swung back towards family-centric romantic musicals with the success of such films as Hum Aapke Hain Koun (1994) and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995). The following table shows Vodafone's results under UK generally accepted accounting principles (UK GAAP).

Amitabh Bachchan, the star known for his "angry young man" roles, rode the crest of this trend. This is a common practice in the mobile telecommunciations industry. In the 1970s and 1980s, romantic confections made way for gritty, violent, films about gangsters and bandits. if an operator in which it has a 30% stake has 10 million customers that equals 3 million proportionate Vodafone customers. Lavish romantic musicals and melodramas were the staple fare at the cinema. Vodafone also produces proportionate customer number figures on a similar basis, eg. In the late 1950s, Bollywood films moved from black-and-white to color. Proportionate turnover is not an official accounting measure and Vodafone's proportionate turnover should be compared with other companies' statutory turnover.

Most Bollywood films were unabashedly escapist, but there were also a number of filmmakers who tackled tough social issues, or used the struggle for Indian independence as a backdrop for their plots. For example, if a business in which it owns a 45% stake has turnover of £10 billion, that equals £4.5 billion of proportionate turnover for Vodafone. The 1930s and 1940s were tumultuous times: India was buffeted by the Great Depression, World War II, the Indian independence movement, and the violence of the Partition. In order to provide additional information on the overall scale and growth trends of its business it publishes "proportionate turnover" figures and these are included in the tables below. There was clearly a huge market for talkies and musicals; Bollywood and all the regional film industries quickly switched to sound filming. Vodafone has some large minority stakes, in particular in Verizon Wireless in the United States and SFR in France, which are not included in its consolidated turnover. The first Indian sound film, Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara (1931), was a super hit. It has issued results amended to IFRS standards for its 31 March 2004 and 31 March 2005 year ends for information purposes, and these are shown in the first table below.

By the 1930s, the industry was producing over 200 films per annum. From its 31 March 2006 year end onwards Vodafone will report its results in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The movie industry was well established by 1920, producing an average of 27 films every year. Key Performance Indicator press release for the quarter to 30 June 2005, 25 July 2005. The first indigenous silent feature film was Raja Harishchandra, released in 1913 and directed by Dadasaheb Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, who is considered the father of Indian cinema. ¹ Vodafone Group Plc. Following this, there were several attempts to film staged plays and imported films were shown in the first decade of the 20th century.
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Three years later, Harishchandra Bhatvadekar shot and exhibited two short films. Although the announcement only says that the two groups are partnering to deliver international roaming services, subsequent press releases of the Vodafone Group indicates that it has 27 (now 31) Partner Networks, therefore the 13 networks of America Movil in the agreement are considered Partner Networks. Cinema first came to India in 1896, when the Lumiere Brothers’ Cinematographe showed six short films in the Watson Hotel. Included in the agreement are the 13 networks owned and controlled by America Movil (except Tracfone in the United States), and the various operating companies of Vodafone and its Partner Networks. These awards are handed out at an annual ceremony presided over by the President of India. The services include Voice and GPRS Roaming services, Preferred Roaming and Virtual Home Environment. The DFF screens not only Bollywood films, but films from all the other regional movie industries and independent/art films. The agreement involves co-operation on international services and roaming.

Since 1973, the Indian government has sponsored the National Film Awards, awarded by the government run Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF). Latin America On 15 November 2005, Vodafone Group announced a group-wide co-operation agreement with America Movil of Mexico. Most of these award ceremonies are lavishly staged spectacles, featuring singing, dancing, and lots of stars and starlets. However, Cingular Wireless (a joint venture of SBC Communications (now AT&T) and BellSouth) ultimately outbid Vodafone and took control of AT&T Wireless, and Vodafone's relationship with Verizon has continued. Some of the other popular awards are:. As AT&T Wireless used the GSM standard, this would have resolved all the above problems. Lately, other companies, such as Stardust Magazine, Zee TV, etc have joined the movie award bandwagon. Had this bid been successful, Vodafone would presumably have sold its stake in Verizon Wireless, and then rebranded the resultant business as Vodafone.

Like the Oscars, they are frequently accused of bias towards commercial success, rather than artistic merit. Perhaps as a consequence of these reasons, Vodafone made a bid for the entirety of AT&T Wireless when that company was for sale in 2004. However, unlike the Oscars, voting is not restricted to members of a specific club or academy, but is open to all people. operations, and (perhaps more importantly) has no control of dividend policy at Verizon Wireless and is therefore entirely at the mercy of Verizon management with respect to cash flow from Verizon Wireless to Vodafone. Modeled after the poll-based merit format of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, individuals may submit their votes in seperate categories; The awards are presented at a glamorous, star-studded ceremony. Vodafone is thus unable to use the Vodafone brand for its U.S. The Indian screen magazine Filmfare started the first Filmfare Awards in 1953. The other two stem from the fact that Vodafone has does not have management control over Verizon Wireless.

Surprisingly, the exposé resulted in insignificant public outrage. and other networks. Those accused by the show vehemently denied these accusations, and most of the Bollywood establishment have supported them. The first is the above-mentioned incompatibility with the GSM standard used by Vodafone's other networks, and the consequent difficulty of offering roaming between Vodafone's U.S. This ploy would not be, of course, unique to Bollywood moguls; film industry figures worldwide have long been rumored to subject actresses to the casting couch. This relationship has been quite profitable for Vodafone, but there have historically been three problems with it. In 2005, the India's Most Wanted show on India TV ran an exposé that accused several Bollywood figures (including Shakti Kapoor and Aman Verma) of seeking sexual favors from young actresses. However, Verizon Communications—the company formed when Bell Atlantic and GTE merged on June 30, 2000—owns a majority of Verizon Wireless and Vodafone's branding is not used, nor is the network compatible with GSM phones.

Blatant plagiarism may have diminished -- however, there is no general agreement that it has. wireless assets and began operations on April 4, 2000. While copyright enforcement in South Asia is still hit or miss, Bollywood and Hollywood are much more aware of each other now, and Indian audiences are more familiar with foreign movies and music. The first wireless business with a national footprint in the U.S., Verizon Wireless was composed of Bell Atlantic's and Vodafone AirTouch's U.S. Audiences also may not have been aware of the plagiarism, since many in the Indian audience were unfamiliar with Western films and tunes. In September 1999, Vodafone Airtouch announced a $70-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp. As for the Western sources, the Bollywood film industry was largely unknown to Westerners, who would not even be aware that their material was being copied. in June 1999 and changed its name to Vodafone Airtouch Plc.

Copyright enforcement was lax in South Asia. Before this joint venture was formed, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communications of the U.S. In past times, this could be done with impunity. United States In the United States, Vodafone owns 44.4%¹ of Verizon Wireless, the country's second largest mobile carrier. They copy ideas, plot lines, tunes or riffs from sources close at hand (Pakistani [3] and Tamil films and songs) or far away (Hollywood and other Western movies, Western pop hits). Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Americas region. Constrained by rushed production schedules and small budgets, some Bollywood writers and musicians have been known to resort to plagiarism. Vodafone and Telkom will then have a 50% stake each in Vodacom.

The old hand-painted posters, once regarded as ephemera, are becoming increasingly collectible as folk art.
. Now, the majority of the huge and ubiquitous billboards in India's major cities are created with computer-printed vinyl. The proporationate customer numbers are as at 31 December 2005. Human labor was cheaper than printing and distributing publicity material. Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Middle East and Africa region. Many Indian artists used to make a living hand-painting movie billboards and posters. The proportionate customer numbers are at 31 December 2005:.

Bollywood sold 3.6 billion tickets and had total revenues (theater tickets, DVDs, television etc) of US$1.3 billion (USD), whereas Hollywood films sold 2.6 billion tickets and generated total revenues (again from all formats) of US$51 billion. Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It shows tickets sold in 2002 and total revenue estimates. The proportionate customer numbers are for 31 December 2005:. For an interesting comparison of Hollywood and Bollywood financial figures, see this chart: [2]. Vodafone currently operates in the following countries in Europe. 'Foreign' audiences—in Asian and Western countries—are also growing, if more slowly. .

As more Indians migrate to these countries, they form a growing market for upscale Indian films. Vodafone is listed on the London Stock Exchange as Vodafone Group (LSE: VOD.L) and New York Stock Exchange, symbol VOD. Balanced against this are the increasing returns from theatres in Western countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, where Bollywood is slowly getting noticed. In the U.S., these customers come via its minority stake in Verizon Wireless, and in the other five markets Vodafone has majority-controlled subsidiaries. In the past, most Bollywood films could make money; now fewer tend to do so. The six markets where it has more than ten million proportionate customers are the United Kingdom; Germany, the United States, Italy, Japan, and Spain. Satellite TV, television and imported foreign films are making huge inroads into the domestic Indian entertainment market. On this measure it is the second-largest mobile telecom group in the world behind China Mobile.

The availability of illegal copies of movies on the Internet also contributes to the piracy problem. [1] ("Proportionate customers" means, for example, that if Vodafone has a 30% stake in a business with a million customers, that is counted as 300,000). regularly stock tapes and DVDs of dubious provenance, while consumer copying adds to the problem. At 31 December 2005 Vodafone had 179.3 million proportionate customers in 27 markets across 5 continents. and the U.K. It is the largest mobile telecommunications network company in the world by turnover, with equity interests in 27 countries and Partner Networks (networks in which it has no equity stake) in a further 31 countries. Small convenience stores run by members of the Indian diaspora in the U.S. Vodafone Group plc (the name stands for VOice-DAta-FONE) is a British mobile phone operator headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, England.

Films are frequently broadcast without compensation by countless small cable TV companies in India and other parts of South Asia. December, 2003). (In fact, bootleg copies are the only way people in Pakistan can watch Bollywood movies, since the Government of Pakistan has banned their sale, distribution and telecast). BBC News (1. Besides catering to the homegrown market, demand for these copies is large amongst some sections of the Indian diaspora, too. Man Utd rings up £36m shirt deal. Manufacturing of bootleg DVD, VCD, and VHS copies of the latest movie titles is a well established 'small scale industry' in parts of the Indian Subcontinent and South East Asia. December, 2004).

Often, bootleg DVD copies of movies are available before the prints are official released in movie theaters. BBC Sport (16. Another problem facing Bollywood is widespread copyright infringement of its films. Ferrari extend sponsorship deal. In 2001, the Central Bureau of Investigation seized all prints of the movie Chori Chori Chupke Chupke after the movie was found to be funded by members of the Mumbai underworld. December, 2000). In January, 2000, Mumbai mafia hitmen shot Rakesh Roshan, film director and father of star Hrithik Roshan; It had been reported that he had rebuffed mob attempts to meddle with his film distribution. BBC Sport (11.

The Mumbai underworld has been known to be involved in the production of several films, and are notorious for their patronization of several prominent film personalities; On occasion, they have known to use money and muscle power to get their way in cinematic deals. ECB dials up £12m deal. As finances are not regulated, some funding also comes from illegitimate sources, such as the Mumbai underworld. New Zealand Warriors Rugby League team (until 2007). However, this ban has now been lifted [1]. UEFA Champions League from the 2006/7 season. Indian banks and financial institutions were forbidden from lending money to movie studios. McLaren Formula One constructor (from 2007).

Funding for Bollywood films often comes from private distributors and a few large studios. Ferrari Formula One constructor (until 2006). Nowadays, Indian producers are drawing in more and more funding for big-budget films shot within India as well, such as Lagaan, Devdas, and the recent production The Rising. Newbury AFC (The football club from Newbury, where Vodafone was founded.). Sequences shot overseas have proved a real box office draw, so Mumbai film crews are increasingly filming in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, continental Europe and elsewhere. Manchester United football till the end of 2005/6 soccer season, which ends Vodafone's four-year shirt deal, two years earlier than planned. But as Western films and television gain wider distribution in India itself, there is increasing pressure for Bollywood films to attain the same production levels. Vodafone Oaks and Vodafone Derby horse races at Epsom.

Sets, costumes, special effects, and cinematography were less than world-class up until the mid-to-late 1990s. England cricket team. Bollywood budgets are usually modest by Hollywood standards. DTM (the German touring car series). Notable film clans:. David Beckham A two-year deal that was signed in 2002, later extended by another 12 months then ended in July 2005. Some of the biggest stars, such as Dev Anand, Amitabh Bachchan, and Shah Rukh Khan, have succeeded despite total lack of show biz connections. Daily Express Life Savers Awards.

However, industry connections are no guarantee of a long career: competition is brutal and if film industry scions don't succeed at the box office, their careers will falter. Clare GAA, Ireland (formerly sponsored by Eircell). Bollywood can be clannish, and the relatives of film-industry insiders have an edge in getting coveted roles. Vodafone announces it plans to purchase a controlling interest in VenFin, and then shed VenFin's other assets. Hence many stars make the most of their fame, once they become popular, by making several movies simultaneously. 3 November 2005: Vodafone announces that it is in exclusive talks to buy the 15% stake of VenFin in Vodacom Group, reaching agreement the following day. Directors compete to hire the most popular stars of the day, who are believed to guarantee the success of a movie (though this belief is not always supported by box-office results). 3 November 2004: Vodafone announced that its South African affiliate Vodacom has agreed to introduce Vodafone's international services, such as Vodafone live! and partner agreements, to its local market.

Very few people become national icons, who are unaffected by success or failure of their movies, like Amitabh Bachchan. The second agreement involves the co-operation in Bahrain and the branding of the network as MTC-Vodafone. The popularity of the stars can rise and fall rapidly, based on single movies. 29 December 2003: Vodafone signs another Partner Network Agreement with Kuwait's MTC group. Stardom in the entertainment industry is very fickle, and Bollywood is no exception. The agrrement involved the rebranding of MTC to MTC-Vodafone. Just as in Hollywood, very few succeed. 18 September 2002: Vodafone signs a Partner Network Agreement with MTC group of Kuwait.

Models and beauty contestants, television actors, theatre actors and even common people come to Mumbai with the hope and dream of becoming a star. May 1998: Vodafone Egypt network went live under the name ClickGSM. It attracts thousands of aspiring actors and actresses, all hoping for a break in the industry. 25 January 2006: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka are added to the Vodafone footprint as Vodafone Group signs a partner network agreement with Telekom Malaysia. Bollywood employs people from all parts of India. 22 December 2005: Vodafone announces the completion of the acquisition of the 10% stake in Bharti Televentures of India. Many lyrics compare the singer to a devotee and the object of his or her passion to Krishna or Radha. The acquisition involves two separate transactions.

Another source for love lyrics is the long Hindu tradition of poetry about the mythological amours of Krishna, Radha, and the gopis. 28 October 2005: Vodafone announces the acquisition of a 10 per cent stake in India's Bharti Televentures, which operates the largest mobile phone network in India under the brand name AirTel. Here's a sample from the 1983 film Hero, written by the great lyricist Anand Bakshi:. October 2005: Vodafone begins releasing 3G technology in Australia. Bollywood song lyrics, especially in the old movies, frequently use Urdu or Hindustani vocabulary which has many elegant and poetic Arabic and Persian loan-words. August 2005: Vodafone released 3G technology in New Zealand. Song lyrics are usually about love. April 2005: Smartone changed the name of its brand from Smartone to 'Smartone-Vodafone'.

This phenomenon is not unlike the pairings of American composers and songwriters that created old-time Broadway musicals (e.g., Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, or Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe). October 1st 2003: Vodafone changed the name of its Japanese subsidiary from J-Phone to 'Vodafone', and the name of J-Phone's mobile internet service from J-Sky to Vodafone Live!. Music directors often prefer working with certain lyricists, to the point that the lyricist and composer are seen as a team. 3 November 2003: M1, as a Partner Network is added to the Vodafone footprint. As an example, below is a dialogue from the 1975 film Deewar, between the gangster brother Vijay and his policeman brother Ravi:. December 2002: J-Phone's 3G network went live. Dialogues are often melodramatic and invoke God, family, mother, duty, and self-sacrifice liberally. 1999-2000: J-Phone launched the J-sky mobile internet service in response to DoCoMo's i-Mode service.

Contemporary mainstream movies also make great use of English. November 1998: Vodafone purchased BellSouth New Zealand, and it became known as Vodafone New Zealand. The dialogues are mostly written in Hindi, with use of Urdu in situations which require poetic dialogues. July 1994: Vodafone Fiji's network went live. The film script (frequently credited as "dialogues") and the song lyrics are often written by different people. October 1993: Vodafone Australia's network went live. In this case, the event is almost always two characters' falling in love. July 1993: BellSouth New Zealand's network went live.

Sometimes, a song is worked into the plot, so that a character has a reason to sing; other times, a song is an externalization of a character's thoughts, or presages an event that has not occurred yet in the plot of the movie. Vodafone Hungary also adopts the new corporate logo. Songs typically comment on the action taking place in the movie, in several ways. 01 February 2006: Oskar Vodafone drops the Oskar name and becomes Vodafone Czech Republic, adopting the new corporate logo of the group. Though considered by many to be one of India's most beautiful regions, Kashmir has been generally off-limits for quite some time due to violence. 05 January 2006: The group announces the completion of the sale of Vodafone Sweden to Telenor. Switzerland has become a popular setting for these picturisations, largely because its Alpine valleys are reminiscent of Kashmir. December 2005: Vodafone Spain becomes the second member of the group to adopt the new corporate logo.

This staging is referred to as a picturisation. [2]. If the hero and heroine dance and sing a pas-de-deux (a dance and ballet term, meaning "dance of two"), it is often staged in beautiful natural surroundings or architecturally grand settings. 13 December 2005: Vodafone won an auction to buy Turkey's second-largest mobile phone company, Telsim, for $4.5 billion. The hero or heroine will often perform with a troupe of supporting dancers, usually of the same sex. After the sale, Vodafone Sweden will become a Partner Network of the Vodafone Group, Plc. In modern films, Indian dance elements often blend with Western dance styles (as seen on MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is not unusual to see Western pop and pure classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. The sale will be completed by the end of calendar year 2005.

The dancing in Bollywood films, especially older ones, is primarily modeled on Indian dance: classical dance styles, dances of historic northern Indian courtesans (tawaif), or folk dances. 31 October 2005: Vodafone reached an agreement to sell Vodafone Sweden to Telenor, the largest provider of telecommunications services in Norway, for approximately Euro 1 billion. Their songs can make or break a film and usually do. 28 October 2005: Connex in Romania is rebranded as Connex-Vodafone. The composers of film music, known as music directors, are also well-known. (The rebranding of Oskar-Vodafone and Connex-Vodafone also does not use the Sim Card pattern.). Most of the female songs in films from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were sung by Lata. Also, various operating companies start to drop the use of the SIM card pattern in the company logo.

One of the most recorded of these playback singers is Lata Mangeshkar who, through the course a career spanning over six decades, has recorded thousands of songs for Indian movies. 17 October 2005: Vodafone Portugal launches a new corporate logo, dropping the speech mark in the O's of the company name, and using the colour silver instead of white, but still retaining the red background. Playback singers are prominently featured in the opening credits and have their own fans who will go to an otherwise lackluster movie just to hear their favourites. 1 July 2005: Oskar of Czech Republic is rebranded as Oskar-Vodafone. These forays, while well-received at the time, have not led to real singing careers for either actor. Vodafone also bought Czech mobile operator Oskar. Of late, a few actors have again tried singing for themselves:. June 2005: Vodafone increased its participation in Romania's Connex to 99%.

Saigal, Suraiyya and Noor Jehan were also known as both singers and actors. November 2004: Vodafone introduced 3G services into Europe. L. Cyta agreed to rename its mobile phone operations to Cytamobile-Vodafone. K. 20 February 2004: Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Cyta of Cyprus. One notable exception was Kishore Kumar, who starred in several major films in the 1950s while also having a stellar career as a playback singer. 16 February 2004: Vodafone signed a Partner Network Agreement with Luxembourg's LuxGSM.

While most actors, especially today, are excellent dancers, few are also singers. 21 July 2003: Lithuania is added to Vodafone's worldwide network, with the signing of a Partner Network agreement with Bité. Songs from Bollywood movies are generally pre-recorded by professional playback singers, with the actors then lip synching the words to the song on-screen, often while dancing. The company is the result of the partnering of Og with Vodafone. Bollywood film music is called filmi music (from Hindi, meaning "of films"). 16 April 2003: Og Vodafone is introduced in the Icelandic market. Any fan of Bollywood movies will be able to list films that he/she regards as transcending the run-of-the-mill masala movie. As a result, Vodafone adds Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia in its partner network.

It should also be said that a fair number of films with mass-appeal are either estimable simply as well-crafted amusements or even artistic achievements in their own way. 7 January 2003: Vodafone signed a group-wide Partner agreement with mobilkom austria. There is now a significant audience of young, educated, urban Indians who want to watch Indian films, but demand a different presentation. Radiolinja (Eesti) would later change its name to Elisa. Current films are increasingly likely either to break the mold or to ironically subvert it. 3 December 2002: Vodafone brand is introduced in the Estonian market with signing of a Partner Network Agreement with Radiolinja (Eesti). However, Bollywood is changing. 2002: Vodafone rebranded Japan's J-sky mobile internet service as Vodafone live!™ as its mobile customer portal.

They often lost out at the box office to movies with more mass appeal. Radiolinja later changed its named to Elisa. There have always been Indian films with more "artistic" aims and more sophisticated stories, both inside and outside the Bollywood tradition (for example, many of the films of Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Guru Dutt, Shyam Benegal, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, and Gulzar among others; see Indian art cinema). 2 February 2002: Finland is added into Vodafone's mobile community, as Radiolinja is signed as a Partner Network. They frequently employ formulaic ingredients such as star-crossed lovers and angry parents, love triangles, corrupt politicians, kidnappers, conniving villains, courtesans with hearts of gold, long-lost relatives and siblings separated by fate, dramatic reversals of fortune, and convenient coincidences. (i.e., TDC Mobil-Vodafone; Elisa-Vodafone; Bité-Vodafone etc.). Plots tend to be melodramatic. Vodafone services would be marketed under the dual-brand scheme, where the Vodafone brand is added at the end of the local brand.

Like masalas, these movies are a mixture of many things. The concept would be used to extend the Vodafone brand and services into markets where it does not have stakes in local operators. Such movies are called masala movies, after the Hindi word for a spice mixture, masala. The new concept involves the introduction of Vodafone international services to the local market, without the need of investment by Vodafone. Songs and dances, love triangles, comedy and dare-devil thrills—all are mixed up in a three-hour-long extravaganza with an intermission. 17 December 2001: Vodafone intoduces the concept of "Partner Network" by signing TDC Mobil of Denmark. Indian audiences expect full value for their money, with a good entertainer generally referred to as paisa vasool, (literally, "money's worth"). 2001-2002: Vodafone acquired Japan's third largest mobile operator J-Phone, which had introduced camera phones first in Japan.

However, they do not fit easily in the "musical" category as defined by Hollywood movies; they usually contain a great deal more in the way of plot and action than is found in the typical Hollywood musical. 2001: Vodafone took over Eircell, then part of eircom in Ireland and rebranded it Vodafone Ireland. Few movies are made without at least one song-and-dance number. 2001-04-16 First 3G voice call on Vodafone United Kingdom's 3G network. Most Bollywood films would be classified as musicals. 28 July 2000: Reverts to its former name, Vodafone Group Plc. . The deal is one of the largest in European history.

A few movies are also made in two or even three languages (either using subtitles, or several soundtracks). February - April 2000: Vodafone enters German market by buying mobile network operator Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH & Co KG. It is not uncommon to see movies which feature dialogues with English words and phrases, even whole sentences. wireless assets and began operations on 4 April 2000. This is a political debate; see the articles on the various languages/dialects.) There has been a growing presence of English in dialogues and songs as well. to be called Verizon Wireless, which was composed of the two companies' U.S. (Linguists would call both Hindi and Urdu variants of Hindustani. 21 September 1999: Vodafone Airtouch announces a $70-billion joint venture with Bell Atlantic Corp.

Bollywood is also commonly referred to as "Hindi cinema", even though use of poetic Urdu words is fairly common. of the U.S., and changes its name to Vodafone Airtouch Plc. Bollywood is a strong part of popular culture of not only India and the rest of the Indian subcontinent, but also of the Middle East, parts of Africa, parts of Southeast Asia, and among the South Asian diaspora worldwide. 30 June 1999: Vodafone Group Plc merges with AirTouch Communications, Inc. Bollywood and the other major cinematic hubs (Tamil - Kollywood, Telugu - Tollywood, Bengali - also called Tollywood, Kannada, and Malayalam) constitute the broader Indian film industry, whose output is the largest in the world in terms of number of films produced and in number of tickets sold. The logo often appears on the outline of a SIM card. Though some purists deplore the name (arguing that it makes the industry look like a poor cousin to Hollywood), it seems likely to persist and now has its own entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. Company introduces new logo, known as the Speechmark, as it is a quotation mark in a circle; the O's in the Vodafone logotype are opening and closing quotation marks, suggesting conversation.

The name is a conflation of Bombay, the old name of Mumbai, and Hollywood, the center of the United States film industry. November 1995: Vodafone Spain's (still as "Airtel") network went live. Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based Hindi language film industry in India. September 1995: Vodafone Italy's (still as "Omnitel") network went live. Apsara Awards. July 1993: Vodafone Ireland's GSM network went live, as Eircell; a ETACS network had operated from ~1985. IIFA Awards. July 1993: Vodafone Greece's network went live.

Stardust awards. October 1992: Vodafone Portugal's (still as "Telecel, Comunicações Pessoais, SA") network went live. Star Screen Awards. September 1992: Vodafone Sweden's network went live. Zee Cine Awards. July 1992: Vodafone United Kingdom's GSM network went live. the Mangeshkar sisters (Hridayanath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhonsle, Usha Mangeshkar). June 1992: Vodafone Germany's (still as "Mannesmann Mobilfunk GmbH") network went live.

the Ganguly brothers (Ashok Kumar, Kishore Kumar, Anup Kumar). October 1991: Racal Telecom is demerged from Racal Electronics and becomes Vodafone Group. the Khan-Roshan clan (Roshan, Rakesh Roshan, Rajesh Roshan, Hrithik Roshan, Suzanne Khan (Hrithik's wife), Sanjay Khan (Suzanne's father), Zayed Khan, Feroz Khan, Fardeen Khan). The first call was made to the Vodafone head office—which was at that point above a curry house in Newbury, where the company remains today (but now in a custom-built HQ building). the Pataudis (Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan (her son), Soha Ali Khan (her daughter)). This event was staged, due to a network failure; the first calls actually being made the next day. the Mukherjee-Samarth family (Shobhana Samarth, Debashree Roy, Sashadhar Mukherjee, Joy Mukherjee, Deb Mukherjee, Sharbani Mukherjee, Nutan, Tanuja, Mohnish Behl, Tanisha, Kajol, Ram Mukherjee, Rani Mukherjee). 1985-01-01: First phone call on Vodafone United Kingdom's analogue network.

the Khans (Salim Khan, Helen, Salman Khan, Arbaaz Khan, Sohail Khan, Malaika Arora). the Hussains (Nasir Hussain, Tahir Hussain, Aamir Khan, Mansoor Khan, Faisal Khan). the Dutts (Nargis and Sunil Dutt (wife and husband), Sunjay Dutt (their son)). the Vinod Khanna family (Vinod Khanna, Akshaye Khanna and Rahul Khanna (his sons)).

the Rajesh Khanna family (Rajesh Khanna, Dimple Kapadia (his wife), Twinkle Khanna (his daughter), Akshay Kumar (his son-in-law) and Rinke Khanna (his younger daughter)). the Bachchans (Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Jaya Bachchan). the Deols (Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sunny Deol, Bobby Deol, Esha Deol, Abhay Deol). the Kapoors (Prithviraj Kapoor, Raj Kapoor, Shammi Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Randhir Kapoor, Rishi Kapoor, Rajiv Kapoor, Babita Kapoor, Neetu Singh, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Riddhima Kapoor, Shivani Kapoor).

Aamir Khan took a turn singing "Kya Bolti Tu" in Ghulam but only because "the character had attitude that only Aamir could do justice to", according to director Vikram Bhatt. Amitabh Bachchan, sang "Mere Angane Mein" in "Lawaaris" in the mid-80's, and has also sung in "Silsila", "Mahaan" "Toofan", Baghban, and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, as well as doing a duet with Adnan Sami in the song Kabhi Nahin (Never).